White Sands National Park

 As we continued our hike to the top of the dune we saw mountains in the distance, a daytime moon overhead, and miles of stark white stand dunes. Most of it seemed untouched by man for centuries but in fact it's only 50 miles from the second largest city in New Mexico. We gazed over the white sands and wondering how it all got there. We finally saw a few other people walk up another dune in the distance and slide down the dune on circular sleds. Was this a recreational area or a nature preserve? Did I mention that we were only a few miles from one of the largest missile testing sites in the United States? Find out all of those answers when Patrick at the Parks go to White Sands National Parks. 

Let's start from the beginning of how this white sand dune was created. Well in all honesty it's not sand, its a substance called gypsum. The gypsum formed in the Tularosa Basin around 12,000 years ago when the basin used to be a lake. gypsum is soluble in water but when that water disappeared the gypsum remained. When it rains there now and it washes away with the water, new gypsum is brought with the water from the mountains into the basin. In fact, there have been human footprints found in the park that have been proven to be from 23,000 years ago. This predates previous theories that humans have lived in North America starting from 12 to 13,000 years ago. 

In 1933, White Sands was declared a National Monument and was recently changed to a National Park in 2019. The reason for the change was due to National Monuments preserving more than one nationally significant resource and a National Park only preserves one. In the case of the White Sands it's the gypsum. 

In 1945 the US Army decided to make the Tularosa Basin into a missile testing facility. The flat lands and desolate landscape where no one lives made a great and safe space to do it. They are very well aware of the National Park though and are careful to not test when events are going on or to aim anywhere near the park itself. The mountains also block the testing site from Las Cruces which is about 50 miles away on the other side of them. 

Other than marvel at the stunning gypsum dunes, there is actually a lot to do here. There is a loop road that travels through the area for cars and bicycles, 5 hiking trails (we did the Alkali Flat Trail), there is a junior ranger program to allow your kiddos to experience what it's like to be a park ranger, there are tons of picnic areas scattered throughout the park, along with restrooms, the visitor center has a gift shop and the ranger station if you have more questions about the park, and of course you can buy or rent a sled. 

As you can see there is a lot to do at White Sands National Park. Ancient history meets modern history in one of the most unique places in the world. Please bring water when you're exploring and be safe! Due to the ever changing nature of the dunes it is easy to get lost. If you want to see more photos of our trip, please follow the Patrick Productions instagram! A park is an area devoted to a specific purpose, White Sands National Park is to preserve the largest sand dune of it's kind in the world. What's yours?